NBA

The Orlando Magic coach studies statistics. He pores over figures. He often relies on objective data to confirm or dispel his gut feelings.

On Nov. 7, he put all that work to use. He gathered his players together before a Saturday-morning practice and told them that their play on defense needed to improve dramatically.

To make his point, he cited nine separate defensive statistical categories, including opponents' field-goal percentage, layups given up and second-chance points allowed. He told his players that they ranked below the Boston Celtics, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Miami Heat in almost all of those areas.

"Most coaches are more into the feel of the game and the system, but Stan is a big numbers guy," Orlando point guard Anthony Johnson says. "He believes in numbers, and he could spit out numbers for days. Throughout the NBA season, numbers kind of tell the story."

The notion of Van Gundy as a numbers-cruncher flies in the face of the image he presents during games. He perhaps is best-known as an intense, emotional coach who shouts instructions to players in a raspy voice.

Yet Van Gundy takes a reasoned, almost scientific, approach to many aspects of his work. Statistics enable him refine his own thinking and convey concepts to his players. In that way, he bases his coaching style as much on objective data as he does on subjective perceptions.

"If I have a gut feeling on something I generally like to check it out," Van Gundy says. "I don't think you can quantify everything. I don't think you can go by the numbers [alone]. But I think they can certainly help you a great deal. And I think anything that can help you support what you think or change the way you think is important. I just don't think you can do it without looking at that stuff."

Van Gundy insists that he only "somehow got through" college calculus at SUNY-Brockport.

But he acknowledges that he's good with arithmetic, and at press conferences he often displays an uncanny ability to recall facts and figures from memory.

After Saturday's win over Atlanta, without looking at that night's box score, Van Gundy mentioned that the Magic outrebounded the Hawks by a margin of nine. Following a pregame shootaround on Jan. 5 in Indianapolis, Van Gundy recalled that center Dwight Howard posted-up 34 times in Orlando's two previous games. After a win over Minnesota on New Year's Day, Van Gundy remembered that the Magic collected 13 rebounds in the first half, while the Timberwolves had 14 offensive rebounds in the first half.

Van Gundy has found that statistics help him communicate with players.

"Numbers don't lie," Magic small forward Matt Barnes says. "He can tell us all kinds of stuff, but when he actually shows us those numbers, there's nothing you can really say but, 'OK. We've got to go out there and do it.' "

Van Gundy also ramps up his studying when his team falls short of expectations. On Jan. 3, the day after a loss to the Chicago Bulls, Van Gundy spent part of his off-day trying to figure out why his team displayed so little energy.

To do that, Van Gundy examined his players' plus-minus statistics over the their previous 12 games. The plus-minus metric was first popularized in ice hockey, but it has gained increased acceptance in pro basketball in recent years. If a player enters the game with the score tied at 10 and then exits the game with his team leading 20-16, he accumulates a +4 rating. The plus-minus data has its limitations, but it enabled Van Gundy to measure how certain combinations of players performed together.

When the Magic hired Van Gundy in 2007, he made clear he wanted one person in the basketball operations department to coordinate all of the team's scouting and video efforts, compile game plans and also study data and cull useful statistics.

Charles Klask, the team's scouting information manager, occupies that role for the Magic. He wasn't permitted to be interviewed for this article, because his work is central to developing the team's strategies, said the team's vice president of communications, Joel Glass.

But Van Gundy talked about Klask's role. Since Van Gundy has been concerned about how the Magic defend 3-pointers, he recently asked Klask to break down how, exactly, the team has given up treys.

"Your gut is one thing, but I think you need to check and see if your gut is correct," Van Gundy says. "I've had people say, 'I don't need to check the numbers. I've seen it with my eyes.' Well, I would also say your eyes lie to you sometimes, and some of the guys you may really like and think are really doing things, when you get deeper into it, aren't or vice versa."

For each opponent, Van Gundy said the team prepares a folder that contains statistics and traditional scouting data. Van Gundy doesn't have time to examine all the numbers, but he will review certain figures to gauge whether his perceptions are correct.